News

10May2019

Consultation on £24million Derby Assembly Room plans backed by D2N2

Plans for a new look Derby Assembly Rooms will go on public display over two days this month (May), as part of a consultation on the project part-funded by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.

Public exhibitions of plans and designs (an artist's impression of one view is shown) for the transformed events and entertainment venue – closed since 2014 due to a major fire – can be seen from 10am to 6pm on Tuesday May 14, and 9am to 5pm on Wednesday May 22; both at the Guildhall Theatre Clubroom, off the Market Place, Derby (its entrance is located opposite the Theatre’s main entrance, under the arches). Visitors can speak to project team members and see the designs.

Derby City Council, leading on the Assembly Rooms’ redesign, have contracted Perfect Circle (a partnership of Pick Everard, Gleeds and AECOM) to come up with the new look.

Public opinions expressed at the exhibitions will be taken into account when finalising the design plan. An online consultation is also being hosted on Derby City Council’s website at www.derby.gov.uk/new-assembly-rooms , with a deadline for responses of Friday May 24.

The Council is investing £24million in transforming the Assembly Rooms. Around £4.48m of that is due to come from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund (LGF) investment, subject to the submission of a detailed business plan, and the remainder to be funded without borrowing through the Council.

D2N2 is the private sector-led partnership which promotes economic growth across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. It has been allocated more than £250m in LGF funding from the Government, to part-fund infrastructure projects which directly help its area’s economy and create jobs.

Local Enterprise Partnerships are playing a vital role in driving forward economic growth across the country, helping to build a country that works for everyone. That’s why by 2021 Government will have invested over £12billion through the Local Growth Fund, allowing LEPs to use their local knowledge to get all areas of the country firing on all cylinders. Analysis has shown every £1 of Local Growth Fund invested could generate £4.81 in benefits.

A planning application for the refurbished venue is expected to be submitted by the Council next month (June). It is set to include details such as:

creating new commercial, and food and beverage units looking onto the Market Place;

removing the current ‘fins’ on the venue’s first floor, which act as a visual barrier;

floor to ceiling glazing on the first floor, drawing the public’s eye into the Assembly Rooms and providing those in the bar area there with views out onto the Market Place;

improving the car park’s external look, to complement its position between the Market Place and the Silk Mill;

improving the venue’s internal lighting and enhancing pedestrian access into the site.

The plans will see the new Assembly Rooms act as a city centre entertainment hub providing a multi-functional space for concerts, pantomime, corporate events, conferences, exhibitions, comedy, family theatre shows, weddings and more. The venue is expected to host hundreds of events each year, in turn expected to attract 160,000 visitors to the city centre.

Greg Jennings, Derby City Council Director of Development and Regrowth, said: “We want to encourage the public and stakeholders to give us their views on the emerging designs for the New Assembly Rooms.

“Our plans do not end with just a physical transformation of the building, as we are also planning to transform how the venue can be used going forward, so it is a much more commercially focused asset which will offer fantastic facilities both during the day and night.”